Wolfsburg (05 May 2011). “We have invited you to join us here in
Olbia to announce Volkswagen’s entry in the World Rally Championship
starting in 2013.” – These were the words used by Volkswagen
Management Board Member Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg as he declared
Volkswagen’s entry into the most versatile of the four automobile
world championships (World Rally Championship, WRC). In front of 200
journalists he unveiled the concept of the Polo R WRC, the car with
which Volkswagen will compete from 2013 onwards, together with Luca
de Meo, Head of Marketing of Volkswagen AG, and Volkswagen
Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. Luca de Meo: “Almost exactly two
years ago, in May 2009, the most recent model of the Polo was
presented here in Sardinia. Today we are proud to show you the
hottest Polo of all time – the Polo R WRC.” For Kris Nissen and his
team the World Rally Championship entry marks a new commitment. “We
look forward to this new challenge and are working on this project
with the same passion with which we won the Dakar Rally in the past
three years,” said Kris Nissen.

After three consecutive victories at the Dakar Rally, Volkswagen has
set itself new aims in top-calibre sport. With three car
corporations currently involved in the championship and global media
coverage, the WRC offers an attractive, highly competitive
environment for Volkswagen. By 2013 the Wolfsburg-based brand will
develop a near-300-hp rally vehicle with a 1.6-litre TSI engine and
four-wheel drive based on the Polo.

Universal technological challenge,
new rules

The World Rally
Championship offers the most diverse technological challenge in
worldwide car racing to the manufacturers involved. Various types of
ground have to be considered during the concept design of a WRC
vehicle such as all manner of gravel, scree, tarmac, ice, snow and
mud. The calendar this season features 13 WRC rounds on four
different continents. Hence a world rally car has to function in
extremely different climatic conditions, from the blazing heat of
South America to the icy ride in Scandinavia.

In addition, new technical rules have come into effect in the WRC
this year. For the first time, engines with a maximum displacement
of 1,600 cc, direct injection and turbochargers are prescribed.

“The new Technical Regulations of the World Rally Championship are
an ideal fit for Volkswagen’s philosophy with respect to the
development of production vehicles,” says Dr Ulrich Hackenberg,
Member of the Management Board of the Volkswagen Brand, Development
Division. “Downsizing, high efficiency and reliability are top
priorities for our customers. The timing of the WRC debut is optimal
for Volkswagen. The big task of engineering a vehicle that is
competitive and capable of winning at a large number of challenges
holds great appeal for us.”

Proven squad, new aims: Volkswagen
Motorsport’s factory commitment

Volkswagen will prepare
and enter the Polo R WRC as a factory commitment. In doing so, the
Wolfsburg-based squad can build on structures which have been
established over the past few years. The World Rally Championship is
a new ambitious aim for the team that has won the “Dakar” in the
past three years. “We can draw on an experienced and proven squad
which has done an outstanding job in top-calibre sport in the past
few years,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “Even
though the WRC is new territory for us and involves learning in many
areas the team already meets some important prerequisites now as it
brings an unwavering professional attitude and resolve to deliver
absolute perfection to this commitment.”

Volkswagen in the WRC: a success
story

Volkswagen looks back on
a small yet impressive rally tradition. Production-based vehicles
from Wolfsburg celebrated rally racing successes in the middle end
of the 1980s. The most important one: In 1986 the Swede Kenneth
Eriksson and his German co-driver Peter Diekmann in the Volkswagen
Golf GTI 16V claimed the world champion’s title in the newly
incepted Group A. In addition, Volkswagen vigorously promoted young
rally talent through the Golf Rally Cup. The fielding of the
Volkswagen Polo R WRC from 2013 onwards closes the loop: Today’s WRC
vehicles are still based on the philosophy of the Group A introduced
back then, which enables rally sport to be conducted with vehicles
based on production models.